About

About

The Suite Dreams Project is a unique and innovative program of the General Sports Foundation, a Michigan non-profit organization. Our focus is to serve children and families in low and moderate income, urban areas by transforming their bedrooms into beautiful healing spaces where they can rest and recover. The Suite Dreams Project utilizes the assistance of designers and volunteers to create these unique environments complete with healing elements specific to the needs of each sick child. We assist in obtaining any furniture, materials and equipment necessary to create the “suite” of each child’s dream.

Founding Families

The goal of the campaign was to raise $100,000.00 through gifts of $1,000.00 by one hundred individuals or families and it was finally met! The families who invested have helped the Suite Dreams Project build a financial foundation that will provide long-term growth and stability well into the future. The endowment serves as an investment fund for our charity and will remain in its eternity. All funds received for our endowment will be invested in a separate fund that will not be used. However, the interest received from the fund each year will be used to help our charity fund a variety of projects and operating needs.

Kay Ponicall always dreamed about creating fairy tale bedrooms for children in need. One day, she found herself sitting next to Kris Appleby. Kris had been searching for a worthwhile cause to fund through the General Sports Foundation; a charity recently set up by her husband’s company. After further discussing their ideas, the pair decided to create the Suite Dreams Project.

The Suit Dreams Project would allow children with serious medical conditions to pick and create “a suite of their dreams”. The main goal of the foundation is to brighten the lives of these children by giving them a place of magic and warmth where their dreams are brought to life. Kris and Kay finished their first bedroom in 2001 and have not looked back since.

The selection process of the Suite Dreams Project is very rigorous. We look not only at the child’s condition, but also their family’s financial and personal backgrounds. The Suite Dreams Project works with area hospitals who send us applicants they believe are most deserving of “a suite of their dreams”. Once a child is approved, we meet with a designer and a group of volunteers who will be involved in the preparation of the bedroom. Once the design team has been determined, we pick out the furniture, bedding, mattress and accessories from a donated supplier to make the bedroom really come to life. When the room is complete, it is time to reveal the new bedroom to the child and their family. This is the moment everyone at the Suite Dreams Project looks forward to as the joy and excitement on the child’s face, makes it all worth it.

Kris and Kay have created a remarkable charity that is rewarding in so many ways. Being a part of the creation of a child’s bedroom at the Suite Dreams Project is a truly unique and rewarding experience. Kay and Kris are a wonderful team, as each of them brings a new perspective and different ideas to the charity. Kay is the dreamer, originator and the idea creator, while Kris is the dynamic force pushing the Suite Dreams Project forward. They are both “go-getters” who are passionate about the mission, which is why the charity has been successful for over 13 years, helping hundreds of sick children along the way. Kris and Kay want to touch as many sick children’s lives as they can by giving them hope to fight their nightmare of an illness.